Gauchos Take Home First Conference Match, def. UCR 6-1

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The Gaucho women played their first conference match of the season this afternoon defeating UC Riverside 6-1.

The Gaucho women travelled to UC Riverside this morning for their first away match of the season, proving that they can come out with a win without home court advantage.

"I am definitely really pumped to start conference play off with a win. I really felt like my partner (Stacy Yam), and I were in synch and our shots and our plays were clicking for us. Today was a good warm-up for Long Beach tomorrow," Senior Erica Cano says of coming out with a win today.

The women started out very strong in doubles taking number two and three doubles 8-1 and 8-0 respectively. April Scatliffe and Kiersten Meehan paired up together for the first time of the year at number one doubles. The duo was up 3-2 before the match was halted, as UCSB already won the doubles point.

The women felt confident as they went into their singles matches, coming out with four fast wins from Priscila Garcia, Stacy Yam, Erica Cano, and Megan Carter who stepped onto the singles court for the Gauchos for the first time today.

Kiersten Meehan rounded out the match with a three set win of 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 against Taylor Raney of UCR, making the final score 6-1.

"We had a good conference win on the road, we played especially well in doubles today," Coach Thibodeau comments on the women's performance. "We are really looking forward to play a tough Long Beach State team tomorrow."

Tomorrow the women move to Long Beach State to face off against the 49er's at 11am. "Our whole team is excited to play them, and hopefully we come off the weekend 2-0" Cano mentions.